Technical Program Manager - Consumer Lending

J  o  b    D  e  s  c  r  i  p  t  i  o  n

THE DETAILS

Job Code:

12095

Grade:

25S

Status:

Exempt

POSITION AND PURPOSE

The Technical Program Manager - Consumer Lending, under the direction of Consumer Lending Programs Leadership, is responsible for leading complex, cross-functional programs and technical product initiatives that advance enterprise priorities, improve operational effectiveness, support enterprise campaigns to increase productivity, promote loan and deposit growth, and increase wallet share by designing strategies and technology-enabled programs that provide value to our members. This position serves as a bridge between business stakeholders, technology delivery teams, vendor partners, and operational leaders by translating business needs into requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, release priorities, and implementation plans. The role is also responsible for supporting onboarding, contract review, and managing ongoing relationships and maintenance of third-party lending vendors while partnering with internal business units to increase innovation and deliver cohesive member and team member experiences.

WHO WE ARE

Golden 1 Credit Union is among the top credit unions in the country. As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, Golden 1 is guided by the credit union philosophy of “people helping people.” We are committed to empowering our members and uplifting our communities as we create a more equitable and financially inclusive California. We welcome all who embrace our Core Values.

WHO YOU ARE

You are a strategic Technical Program Manager who leads lending initiatives from concept through implementation, connecting business objectives, technical delivery, operational readiness, and measurable outcomes.

You serve as a trusted bridge between lending leaders, technology teams, vendors, compliance partners, and operational stakeholders—translating business needs into clear requirements, priorities, delivery plans, and communication that supports informed decision-making.

You apply technical expertise, lending knowledge, and strong program governance to solve complex problems, align cross-functional teams, improve systems and workflows, and deliver solutions that enhance the member and team member experience.

THE WORK

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Project Management: Lead and guide cross-functional teams to ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, and on budget. This will include collecting and documenting business requirements, performing research, vendor due diligence, ensuring quality user acceptance testing, and overseeing implementations.

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Strategy Development: Align and optimize resource utilization across workstreams in collaboration with leaders. Collaborate with senior management to develop and implement strategic plans that align with the credit union’s objectives.

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Risk Management: Work closely with Enterprise Risk Management teams to assess and mitigate risks associated with projects. Ensure programs and projects are within regulatory and legal requirements, and internal policies.

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Member Experience: Focus on enhancing member satisfaction and loyalty through improved services and offerings.

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Regulatory Compliance: Stay apprised of relevant industry regulations and compliance requirements related to financial services products. Ensure that all projects adhere to applicable laws and regulations.

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Stakeholder Communication: Effectively communicate project updates and progress to stakeholders, including executives, team members, and other relevant parties.

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Resource Allocation: Manage resources efficiently to optimize project outcomes. Plan, organize, direct, and manage budgetary activity for upcoming projects and initiatives.

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Technical Product Ownership: Develop and execute a comprehensive approach to deliver major products, capabilities, services, system enhancements, and vendor-enabled solutions in alignment with business objectives, product roadmaps, strategic priorities, and established success measures.

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Backlog and Release Management: Define, prioritize, and maintain product backlogs with input from key stakeholders; determine release sequencing, support roadmap planning, and balance business value, member impact, risk, funding, resource availability, and delivery dependencies.

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Requirements and User Story Development: Translate business needs into technical requirements, document and prioritize user stories, define acceptance criteria, and perform just-in-time story elaboration with development teams, business partners, and vendors to ensure work is ready for execution.

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Scrum Team Partnership: Provide guidance and direction to Scrum teams and business partners, clarify requirements, resolve questions, prioritize defects or bugs, support testing and validation, and advocate for the business and member experience throughout delivery.

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Product Discovery and Solution Design: Conduct research, facilitate vision and validation discussions with stakeholders, evaluate external market trends and operational needs, identify automated or digital solutions, and help formulate business cases, success criteria, and measurable outcomes.

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Technology Delivery Coordination: Partner with technology delivery teams, solution architects, vendors, operations, compliance, and business stakeholders to evaluate technical feasibility, confirm dependencies, support system design decisions, and remove barriers that may impact delivery timelines or product outcomes.

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Product Requirements and Traceability: Maintain clear traceability from business objectives and regulatory requirements to features, user stories, acceptance criteria, test scenarios, release decisions, and post-implementation results.

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System and Workflow Optimization: Identify opportunities to improve loan origination, vendor integration, member communication, operational workflow, data capture, reporting, and exception management through system configuration, automation, or process redesign.

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Testing and Release Readiness: Support test planning, user acceptance testing, defect triage, release readiness reviews, implementation planning, change impacts, training needs, communication plans, and go-live validation to ensure solutions are adopted successfully and operate as intended.

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Data and Performance Insights: Define product metrics, adoption measures, operational performance indicators, risk indicators, and reporting needs to evaluate product effectiveness, inform prioritization decisions, and support continuous improvement after launch.

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Vendor and Integration Support: Collaborate with vendor partners and internal teams to assess integration requirements, data exchange needs, service-level expectations, operational impacts, implementation risks, and ongoing enhancement opportunities.

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Performance Measurement: Track and evaluate the project status and outcomes, making data-driven decisions to improve performance where necessary.

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Cross-Functional Collaboration: Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, including internal teams, senior management, members, and external partners. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and successful execution, gather business requirements, define product specifications, and prioritize feature/functionality development. Act as a subject matter expert on financial products, providing guidance and support to internal and external stakeholders.

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Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Stay up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes that impact business units. Update existing and create new programs and strategies, workflows, and introduce stand-alone applications related to systems and processes to advance long term credit union growth.

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Team Leadership: Provide guidance and support to project teams, fostering a collaborative and productive work environment.

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Represent credit union in contacts with business and trade associations, members, and regulatory agencies. Attend business functions, industry conferences, and otherwise promote the credit union’s image.

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Perform other duties as assigned.

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Develop and maintain an understanding of the pertinent regulatory requirements and risks inherent to job responsibilities, establish, and maintain control activities that mitigate those risks consistent with the Credit Union’s risk appetite, and ensure operational integrity and compliance with applicable regulations.

QUALIFICATIONS

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Bachelor’s Degree in related field required or

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equivalent work experience

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Advanced degree preferred

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6+ years of progressive experience in project analysis, coordination, project/program management, product management, digital transformation, solution design, or business planning, including 5 years directly managing initiatives end-to-end. required

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3+ years experience within a financial institution, regulated environment, technology delivery environment, or enterprise project management office preferred

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Demonstrated ability to lead moderate to complex, cross-functional initiatives through planning, execution, governance, risk management, stakeholder engagement, and implementation. Navigating ambiguity while aligning stakeholders, resolving issues, and escalating decisions appropriately.

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Understanding of change management principles and the ability to support operational readiness, stakeholder adoption, and sustainable implementation

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Proven knowledge of enterprise program management practices, including governance, intake, prioritization, roadmap planning, dependency management, risk mitigation, and benefits realization., preferably in the financial services industry.

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Proficient Understanding of consumer lending lifecycles, regulatory requirements, and risk practices.

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Strong organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize tasks, manage timelines, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.

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Highly effective communication and presentation skills with the ability to translate complex project details into concise status updates, risks, and recommendations,

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Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively and influence cross-functional leaders, internal teams, and vendors.

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Proficiency in data analysis tools and techniques.

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Familiarity with Agile methodologies and product development frameworks.

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Strong working knowledge of Agile principles, Scrum team practices, backlog management, release planning, user story development, acceptance criteria, and product delivery lifecycle activities.

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Strong understanding of the retail financial services market and products including digital transformations, use of analytics, cross-functional execution, and regulatory requirements.

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Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint; Visio; as well as Nitro Pro.

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Proven ability to meet deadlines, deliver high quality results, and demonstrate accountability and ownership of work and actions.

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Ability to successfully engage in multiple initiatives simultaneously with the ability to adapt to change and prioritize and manage competing demands.

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Robust analytical, strategic, and problem-solving skills to critically evaluate requests to determine true needs and distinguish between solution ideas and requirements.

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Ability to serve as the voice of the business by translating stakeholder needs into clear business and technical requirements, partnering with technology teams to recommend solutions, and ensuring alignment across business, technology, vendor, compliance, and operational stakeholders.

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Demonstrated experience assessing, developing, and deploying new offerings, system enhancements, workflow improvements, or incremental product capabilities within deadlines and with measurable business or member experience outcomes.

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Ability to evaluate technical feasibility, integration considerations, data dependencies, operational impacts, member experience implications, and compliance risks when shaping product requirements and delivery plans.

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Experience using delivery and collaboration tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, Confluence, Visio, Miro, Excel, PowerPoint, or similar platforms to manage backlogs, document requirements, map workflows, track dependencies, and communicate product status.

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Strong understanding of product delivery controls, including intake, prioritization, requirements validation, dependency management, testing discipline, release governance, change management, and benefits realization.

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Strong interpersonal skills required, including maintaining positive relationships with system stakeholders, providers, and key internal business partners.

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Agile certification, product owner certification, or experience with Azure DevOps or similar product delivery tools preferred

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Solves Problems Proactively - Tackles complex issues independently

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Innovates and Applies Insights - Suggests improvements

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Delivers Results with Agility - Maintains quality during change 

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Collaborates Across Teams - Works effectively with peers 

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Influences and Persuades - Shares expertise to guide others 

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTACTS AND RELATIONSHIPS

INTERNAL:

All levels of management and staff.

EXTERNAL:

C.C.U.L., community organizations, vendors, suppliers,  peers in financial institutions, and peers at other financial institutions

WORKING CONDITIONS

Work time includes weekend and after-hours time, based on organizational needs. This position works in-office where working conditions, lighting, temperature, audio, and workspace are all sufficient.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Work requires the ability to constantly operate a computer and the ability to read, type, and communicate. Work may require the ability to move work-related supplies weighing up to 10-15 pounds.

DISCLAIMER/INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by team members within this classification. Because the nature of positions and job functions can change over time, this job description is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all essential functions, duties, responsibilities and qualifications requirements of team members assigned to this job. Job duties may be changed or modified in the Credit Union’s discretion. The Credit Union will keep team members updated on key functions, duties, and requirements of their position by communications from the Credit Union and by updating the job description from time to time. Any team member with questions about the nature of their job duties is encouraged to consult with their supervisor.

DECLARATION/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This job description outlines the essential functions and physical/mental requirements necessary to perform this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.